FIRE DEPARTMENT

Dubuque's former Central Fire House

FIRE DEPARTMENT. In June 1970, the Dubuque Fire Department moved from its seventy-eight year-old headquarters into the new Central Fire Headquarters. The old Fire Headquarters, built in 1892, was demolished in 1970.

In 1837 Dubuque's approximately 1,000 settlers lived in wooden shacks and log cabins. They used candles and kerosene lamps. Heat was provided by open fireplaces and wood burning stoves. Fires destroying an entire block were not uncommon.

After a series of fires in the spring of 1837, the citizens organized a fire brigade. Every home was to have a wooden bucket submerged in water and ready for use. A cart supplied with leather buckets and a homemade ladder was placed in a shed at Jones and Locust. A hoop hung from a post was used to call "The Miners' Brigade" to duty.

The first official company to answer fire alarms was established by the City Council on May 5, 1841. Cisterns were dug at various points throughout the city, and a crude engine nicknamed the "Coffee Mill" was purchased in St. Louis-the only apparatus owned by the department from 1841 to 1854. Given a fire alarm, the "Coffee Mill" was carted or carried to the scene where it was filled by a bucket brigade. By using cranks, the water from the "Mill" could be shot to the eaves of a three-story building. With no station house in which to keep it, the "Mill" was left outdoors until it rusted into uselessness. The new city charter in 1856 discontinued independent fire companies.

In 1856 Dubuque's first steam fire engine was brought by boat up the MISSISSIPPI RIVER. A second fire company was organized and a third was added two years later. The three companies--"Protection," "Washington," and "Mechanics" had one hundred twenty-nine volunteers by 1859. Sixteen cisterns, each holding 1,600 gallons of water, were available for their use. In 1874 the city took over control of the three companies and the change to a paid department was completed by 1884. By 1897 the department had 33 men and 18 horses. A horse-drawn ambulance was purchased in 1902.

Before the use of motorized fire engines, Clydesdale horses were stabled at the old headquarters. When an alarm sounded, a lever was tripped which opened the stalls and the well-trained horses headed straight for their assigned engine. While some firemen hitched the horses, other fire fighters mounted the steamer, which was usually named for a MAYOR. The horses pulled the men and equipment at a gallop to the fire scene. In 1910 the $2,264.02 cost of feeding the department's twenty-six horses was only exceeded by the firemen's payroll. In 1911 the department replaced its condemned city service truck with a rubber-tired model, but one that was still horse-drawn.

The disastrous FIRES at the STANDARD LUMBER COMPANY were blamed in part by then Fire Chief Joseph Reinfried on poor equipment. In 1914 the department purchased "Jumbo," its first motorized fire engine, and a car was purchased for the chief to replace his horse and buggy. A motorized ambulance was purchased in 1916. By 1918 the entire department was motorized. The same year the last horse-drawn apparatus, a three-horse-hitch aerial, was replaced by an American La France aerial truck that was used for the next thirty years.

In 1974 Dubuque became one of the first Iowa cities to provide Advanced Life Support in the department. The Fire Headquarters at 9th and Central was opened in 1970. Personnel are certified to a First Responder level. Paramedics and EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians) are licensed in Iowa and Illinois. In addition to fire prevention and emergency medical services, the department provides firefighter training, EMT recertification, rental and business inspections, hydrant maintenance, public education, and arson investigation. (Photo Courtesy: http://www.dubuquepostcards.com)